Objectives and events
Objectives
The Objectives tab (left edge) sets what the player has to do: up to six things, listed in the order the game's map computer will show them. The mission is complete when every one of them is done.
A mission copied from one of the originals starts with that level's own objectives, in their own words. Keep them, drop the ones you don't want (×), or add your own:
| Objective | You pick | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| From the level | one of the level's own | whatever the level tests |
| Eliminate a guard | a guard, yours or the level's | he is dead |
| Eliminate every guard | nothing | every enemy is dead |
| Collect a weapon or item | a pickup | the player picks it up |
| Reach an area | a point and a radius on the map | the player gets there |
| Hack a terminal | one of the level's terminals | it is hacked |
| Destroy something | a vehicle, camera or explosive | it is blown up |
- ⊕ picks the target on the map; the eye shows it; × removes the objective.
- Each objective of your own has its own text. Leave it empty for a sensible default.
- Drag a row by its header to change the order. The numbers on the map follow.
- On the map, targets carry numbered yellow diamonds. A badge on a patrolling guard walks with him.
- In the game, each objective has its line on the map computer's objectives page and, where it has a place, a numbered marker on its map.
Collecting a weapon
The player takes things by walking into them. A weapon on top of a stack of crates, or on a roof, can't be reached, and the check list warns you about it. The game also does not count a weapon the player already carries as picked up, so choose something that is not in the mission's starting kit.
The mission fails if the alarm goes off (under the list) makes it a stealth mission. It also fails on the level's own failures and when the player dies.
Time limit and weather
Mission, Time limit and weather (or the button under the objectives):
- Time limit in minutes and seconds, and whether the countdown shows on screen. When it runs out, the mission fails. Messages warn the player at five minutes, one minute and ten seconds.
- Rain or snow: as the level has it, clear, rain or snow, from light to heavy.
- Haze: how hazy the distance is, from the clearest level to the haziest.
As the level puts them all back.
Map labels
The same tab lets you name your own buildings on the game's map computer, with a title and a line of information, as the game labels its own.
32 markers and labels
The map computer holds 32 markers and labels, no more: one more and the game refuses to load the level. The studio counts them for you, writes your objectives' markers over the level's own first, and warns you before the limit is reached. The map computer preview shows how many are used.
Events
The Events tab is when this happens, that happens. Pick what starts an event from the list at the top; each event becomes a card below with a When and a Then. An event happens once.
When:
- the player reaches an area (a circle you click on the map)
- a switch is pressed, a guard dies, a terminal is hacked, an item is picked up, something is blown up
- a camera sees the player, or an alarm goes off
- a number of seconds after the start, or some seconds after another event
Then:
- Show a message, in your own words, for so many seconds.
- Raise an alarm, the level's or one of yours.
- Send in guards: pick your guards on the map. They are not there until the event happens, and can come back as many times as you set.
- Open doors of the level.
- Fail the mission, with your own words or the game's Mission failed.
On the map, each event has a pink numbered badge on its area, or on what it watches. The check list warns about an event that can never happen: nothing picked, or its target removed.
Doors
Select one of the level's doors and its panel has a Lock section:
- Locked: as the level has it, always, or until something happens: a switch is pressed, a terminal hacked, an item picked up, a guard killed, or an event.
- Lock can be picked: the player can pick it, taking that many seconds.
- Opens by itself when an event happens.
A pink padlock marks every door the mission changes.
Next: cameras and alarms.